Strength Of A Breath
by Matatabi-chan
Summary: First of the Strength Series. Beckett and Castle are trapped in her sinking car trying to escape.  Running out of air, they need to find a way to get out before they both drown. It's amazing what a breath can do. Takes place during Linchpin.


Castle and Beckett were looking for her gun as the water continued to rise in the car. Castle's seatbelt came undone relatively easily but Beckett was stuck, her seatbelt locked in position. There was no way she could get it undone. As the water came up to their chests Castle abandoned the search for the gun and began trying desperately to free Beckett.

"Castle!" Beckett called as the water came up to their chins. He was still fighting with her seatbelt as she tried to stop him. "Castle, kick the window out and get to the surface."

"I'm not leaving, Beckett." He told her as he continued to try to rip apart the seatbelt. She grabbed his face making him look at her.

"Rick. The water is going too fast, my seatbelt is not going to give. Get yourself out." She looked straight into his eyes and saw pure love there.

"I'm not leaving you, Kate." He told her stubbornly. "I'm not going to just give up and get out leaving you here to drown."

"If you don't get out we're both going to drown."

"Kate." He said making her go silent. "I'm not going to leave you here." The two looked at each other as the water rose even higher. "Take a deep breath." He said as they both took in a large gulp of air as the water rose over their heads. Beckett watched as Castle continued to struggle a bit more with the clip of the seatbelt before looking around again for something to use. Suddenly he twisted leaning across her as he started kicking the driver's side window. Over and over again he kicked the window until it broke. Reaching over he grabbed a piece. She saw him turn back to the belt where he began sawing at the belt with the glass.

Beckett tried to stop him when she saw blood flowing into the water around his hand. She tried to take the glass and get him to go out the window but he pushed her hand away and continued to cut. It took another minute before she was free and he pushed her towards the window. They locked eyes one last time before she went through the window and to the surface gasping for air. Looking around she found police cars and unmarked black vehicles pulling to a stop at the edge. Beckett started swimming to the edge as Ryan and Esposito ran to the edge.

"Beckett!" They yelled. They reached down into the cold water and pulled her onto the shore.

"Castle." She said as she looked back at the water not seeing Castle. "Castle!" She said louder as she moved back towards the water.

"Where's Castle?" Asked Sophia as she and several agents ran over to Beckett.

"He was right behind me. He cut my seatbelt and sent me out first. He was right behind me. He must be stuck." She said before she pulled out of Ryan's grasp and she jumped back into the water.

"Beckett!" Ryan and Esposito yelled, trying to grab her but she was already below the water. The three stood looking at each other a minute before Esposito started pulling his jacket off ready to jump into the cold water.

Beckett swam as fast as she could back down to her police car. As she peered through the broken window, she saw Castle floating unconscious. She reached in and started pulling him out as fast as she could but she couldn't get him completely through the window making her look at what was stopping them and found the passenger side seatbelt that had never restricted tangled around his leg with the remnants of her seatbelt. She looked around wondering why he had not just cut the belts when she noticed the little slit in the belts and the blood still flowing from, now, both hands to mix with the water.

Reaching into the car she grabbed another piece of glass from the window and leaned in to start working on the area Castle had been trying to cut. She winced as the glass started cutting into hand causing her own blood to now mix into the water. It took a minute to finally cut through and pull him free of the car before she started swimming to the surface. She was half way there and her lungs began to burn from the need of fresh air, she needed to move faster but Castle was heavy and it was taking her longer to reach the surface. Looking at Castle in her arms she knew they both needed to surface quickly. Determined to reach the surface she pushed her body, moving as fast as she could, not caring how tiring or painful it was.

She gasped for air as she broke above the water. "Beckett!" She heard from the shore as she tried to get more air into her lungs. "Beckett!" Esposito and Ryan yelled. She started to try swimming to the shore but she continued to drop below water every so often.

"Esposito!" They heard a female yell before there was a large splash. Suddenly Esposito was beside Beckett.

"Javi." Beckett sputtered.

"Come on." He said helping her to swim Castle to the shore. Ryan reached down to help pull Castle out, before Esposito helped push as Ryan pulled Beckett from the water. As soon as she was out of the water, she moved to Castle's side as Sophia went to her knees beside them.

"He's not breathing." Sophia said as Beckett bent and started CPR. She gave a breath then started compressions. As she went back for another breath, the boys saw the blood on his shirt.

"He's bleeding." Ryan said.

"He's fine." Beckett said as she continued, that's when they saw the blood covering her hand as she desperately tried to get Castle breathing again. "Come on Castle." She said as she gave another set of compressions. "Come on. Breathe." She told him as paramedics arrived. Sophia took a step back as Esposito and Ryan were made to step back and talk to Gates standing to the side.

"Beckett, paramedics are here." Ryan told her but she shook her head and continued.

"Come on, Castle. Breathe damn it." She leaned down to give another breath. "Come on Rick, you can't leave me. Don't leave me. I love you. I love you, Rick. Don't leave me." She whispered to him before Esposito wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away so the paramedics could work. "Let me go!" Beckett yelled as she twisted and turned in Esposito's arms.

"Beckett, let the paramedics work." He said in her ear. "Beckett." He said as she started relax into him and her body shivered. "Ryan, get a blanket." Ryan ran to the side and grabbed several blankets, before draping one around Beckett's shoulders as Esposito held her, stopping her from interrupting the paramedics.

"He's not breathing. He needs to breath." Beckett said. Ryan looked at her then at Esposito worried.

"He'll be fine. You know he'll be fine." Esposito told her softly as they watched they paramedics work. "He's Castle, he always comes back for you." They watched as the paramedics put electrodes on Castle's chest seeing a heartbeat. Beckett twisted and ran over to sit at Castle's head. Esposito and Ryan watched her lean forward to speak and the paramedics put a mask over his mouth and nose forcing air into his lungs.

"Come on, Rick. You can't do this. Not to Martha, not to Alexis, not to the team… Not to me. Breathe." She whispered. "Breathe, Rick." She said more forceful before he jolted, gasping for air. His eyes opened a bit, Beckett smiled down at him as Sophia, and the others moved closer. The paramedics took the mask way letting him cough to get the water from his lungs and come to a bit more.

"Kate?" He asked as his eyes opened a bit more.

"Yeah it's Kate." She said as her eyes filled with happy tears and she smiled down at him, breathing a sigh of relief. "It's me, Rick."

"With that background I could swear I was in heaven looking at an angel." Beckett shook her head but never stopped smiling.

"You? Go to heaven? Really Castle?" She laughed making him give a small smile. The paramedics continued to check his vitals and make sure he was alright before pulling the wires off of him and bandaging his hand. One paramedic turned to her and took care of her hand. Once both were bandaged, the paramedics give her a nod. "You think you can sit up?" He began to push up and wobbled a bit. Beckett moved closer to help him sit completely up and lean on her a bit as he collected himself. Beckett took a blanket from Ryan and draped it around his shoulders to warm him up when they head Sophia.

"Rick." Sophia said as she walked around to bend down beside them. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was just breathing water." He replied before he hit a coughing fit, his body trying to get rid of the fluid in his lungs.

"You do know you're not a fish. Right, Castle?" Beckett asked making him look at her and give a look that made her chuckle.

"Are two able to stand? You need to come to headquarters." Sophia told them.

"Now?" Beckett asked. "Castle needs to go to the hospital."

"I don't need to go to the hospital." Castle argued.

"Castle you almost drown. You were unconscious and practically dead for almost four minutes. You have to get checked out." Beckett told him as she looked at him noticing how run down he looked.

"I'm fine, Beckett. I'm alive and awake so no brain damage done." He told her

"That's a matter for debate." She told him, not happy with him for refusing to go to the hospital. He just smiled at her and she shook her head. "Come on." She started to stand and help him up when she realized her body was completely worn out. It did not want to push any farther. Esposito and Ryan moved to her aid, helping her and Castle to their feet.

"You two okay?" Ryan asked as Gates joined them.

"We're fine." Beckett told him. She glanced at Sophia who was waiting.

"Let's go." She told the two before she turned.

"Go where?" Gates asked making Sophia turn back to look at her. "These are my people and they do not just go wandering around under anyone's instructions, especially not after an event like this."

"This is well above you. I suggest you call the chief of detectives if you have a problem." She looked at Beckett who was watching the two and Castle who was finishing buttoning up his shirt again. "Let's go. Now." Castle looked at her. He knew that tone anywhere. It was similar to the tone Beckett would use to scold him, only Beckett's held more feeling rather than all anger. The two looked at Gates a second before giving Esposito and Ryan an apologizing look before they followed Sophia to the cars.

"You sure you're alright, Castle?" Beckett asked as they walked slowly to the car.

"I'm okay. Going to be coughing for weeks but I'm alright. Really, Kate. What about you?" He reached out and grabbed her hand looking at the bandage on her hand.

"I'm fine. It's just a little cut." She shrugged off his worry but he was not going to let her off the hook, not after what had just happened.

"What happened?"

"You were stuck and unconscious. I did the same thing you did." She told him. Her words held a double meaning to her as her words when she was preforming CPR came back to her, and she had to look away pulling away from him. She had blurted out feelings that she knew were there but was not ready to confront those feelings or him fully yet. She had been working with Mr. Burk to be able to one day tell Castle just how much he meant for her but for her to have just blurt it out…. she glanced at him as he looked at her worried. She should be the one who worried. He was the one who had almost died and was now walking to the CIA cars after refusing to go to the hospital.

Beckett looked away again as her words echoed in her head again. She did love him, she wanted him to know but she was not ready to tell him yet. She knew deep down that she really did love him, she wanted him to know but she had said it thinking it would bring him back to her, to keep him from dying and leaving her alone. She would not have been able to continue if he had left her all alone. She glanced at him again and found a small smile on his face as they reached to cars. Climbing in she pushed everything but the case from her mind, not wanting to complicate things more than they already were. For the moment, she had to be completely focused on the case or things may turn out worse for them than it already was.


End file.
